Slower boot with ME as shell

Im running regular XP Pro and I check the option in ME 1.7.7F to load ME as shell hoping for a bit faster time from loading windows to functioanlity not to mention not having to find and click the ME icon while driving. The thing is when it loads as shell it sits at the XP screen where it says "welcome" for almost twice as long as just botting normally. It seems faster to just boot XP and open Me manually. Am I missing the point of using it as the shell?
thanks

Im running regular XP Pro and I check the option in ME 1.7.7F to load ME as shell hoping for a bit faster time from loading windows to functioanlity not to mention not having to find and click the ME icon while driving. The thing is when it loads as shell it sits at the XP screen where it says "welcome" for almost twice as long as just botting normally. It seems faster to just boot XP and open Me manually. Am I missing the point of using it as the shell?
thanks

Using M/E as your shell just prevents the operating system from loading explorer's desktop, it's not going to speed up anything.

If you want M/E to run automatically you can also launch it from your registry, or by placing a shortcut to it in your startup folder. These are things that you would learn in the first six pages of most "Windows for Dummies" books, so we felt coding the registry changes in M/E was a waste of time.